Bosnia & Herzegovina

 

 

 

 

Bosnia and Herzegovina has a long tradition of loving football. Yet, the war that lasted over 4 years (1992-96) brought a devastation to sport on all levels. Infrastructure, facilities, equipment were either burned, stolen or ruined. Clubs locked their premises and people simply just tried to survive. What was even worse, war drew people apart. Now former club mates and players became soldiers of three opposing armies. When the Open Fun Football Schools project came to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the project was well-received right away.

 

With everything lost in the war, all the help with equipment and organisation of events and seminars were more than welcome. Shortly after, people realized that by doing this project they repaired bonds with others including their former colleagues. By bringing children from their villages and towns and cities they got a chance to meet again, and what is more important, they easily continued their cooperation afterwards. The continuance of the friendships confirmed that people with sport background have a special way of thinking in common cutting across every race and ethnicity and national boundries.

Other segments of Open Fun Football Schools' success in BiH are shown in the fact that country previously had 35 children sports clubs, but since the project's implementation, this number is almost countless and grows every year. Consequently in February 2004 we counted 524 public and private football clubs for children. Clubs are being formed using CCPA equipment, and most importantly using the OFFS prinicples and values.  

Female football is a story of its own. Bosnia and Herzegovina used to be inactive in the female football sphere, but nowadays, there is a female league, a national team, and Open Fun Football Schools welcome more that 30% girls each year, and numbers keep going up!
 

Bosnia & Herzegovina embraced the Fun Football Concept as the way to work with children. While working with children in the regions our experienced leaders and coaches use their skills and knowledge and on-pass new methods of training and pedagogics for children to coaches, teachers and other adult volunteers participating in the project.

Each year, people from three municipalities gather at every Open Fun Football School - and in most cases municipalities which have been siding on opposite sides during the war. By coming together at the OFFS, the influence and message they pass on to their respective communities are priceless!
  

Special significance for Bosnia and Herzegovina lies in sposts meetings held in 1999 in Srebrenica, 2000 in Mostar and 2001 in Novi Travnik, where we gathered children from different football clubs, at the same time including children with special needs and children with disabilities.
The OFFS project has given special support to and participated in the Special Olympics held in Sarajevo 2001.

 

One of the most important goals achieved by the OFFS program is the successfull organization of Street Sport events in Srebrenica including children from Bratunac as well. These two towns were notoriously famous for cruelties during the war, but the OFFS project suceeded in connecting children from both towns, as well as trainers and parents, and this was the first time these towns had any kind of post-war cooperation. Joint sport activities and implemetation of sport projects have contined ever since.
 

In the region of central Bosnia, the Open Fun Football Schools project started, and continues to support, great expansion and popularisation of female football. OFFS in this region are primarily for girls, and the schools gather more than 400 girls each year.

Since 2003 project has cooperation with 'Positive Play' organization, with whom we sucessfully have implemented projects on mine awareness and - starting this year - a Fan Culture awareness project promoting peacefull cheering and anti-violence.

 

In 2009 a UEFA film crew made 5 movies on Open Fun Football School project in BiH. 

The Open Fun Football Schools has, among others, been funded by UEFA with the aim of using the promotion of grassroots football as a vehicle to stimulate social cohesion and peaceful co-existence in Bosnia & Herzegovina.

 

Further the governments of Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland has supported Open Fun Football Schools as part of their Stability Pact Initiative to encourage peace and stability through capacity building of civil society organisations and cross border collaboration. 
 

Bosnia and Herzegovina maintains good colaboration with local donors : municipalities, Ministry of sport and culture, NovoNordisk,private football clubs,private companies and FA BiH.

CCPA-Open Fun Football Schools in Bosnia and Herzegovina has a vision to serve as an integrator among different ethnic regions by establishing mutual cooperation. We also want to become an integrator for all the institutions and organizations that work with children, with activities and education that follow our brand which is characterized by the basic principles of multi-ethnicity, gender equality, sport for all, social dimension and the fun concept.
 

We have a vision to become a powerfull movement covering Bosnia and Herzegovina, which will use the OFFS activities as a tool for promoting a wide variety of values and principles, all done through our tailor-made programs, considering the region and our donor's interests. We plan to turn ourselves towards: healthy life style, safe and healthy environment, improvement of the sport lifestyle and supporter behaviour, kindergaten children and other positive values.

We wish to develop and maintain a sustainable structure for the OFFS program in Bosnia and Herzegovina, mainly targeting the Football Association of BiH as our key umbrella institution. We also plan to maintain our relationships with municipalities and ministries from both entities of BiH, but at the same time maintaining a regional platform and a balance beetwen self-sustainability and remaining a part of the CCPA family.

 

1. To keep and respect the principles and core values of Open Fun Football Schools and remain an integral part of the CCPA family
2. To define and formalise the relationship with the Football Association, in particular its Grassroots Football Department
3. To increase the impact of OFFS Bosnia in terms of range of social issues addressed and the program's geographical reach
4. To formalise an education program with FA BIH, C licensing.
5. To establish a Grassroots Football Centre
6. To develop ability to raise funds and move towards increased financial self-sufficiency

 

CCPA OFFS BiH has established and maintains a good relationship with the Football Association of BiH, with the intention to deepen our collaboration. Relationships with municipalities are also very productive and expand from year to year. However, CCPA OFFS BiH is still very much dependant on international donors' money and support.

With new strategic targets defined and a new plan and approach towards fundraising established this will hopefully solve this issue.